on-functions-of-language

StudyonfunctionsoflanguageIntroductionForthosepeoplewhohavestudiedlanguagetosomeextent,theywouldhaveprobablyrealizedthattherehasbeenextendeddiscussionbymanyacademicsaboutthevariousfunctionsoflanguage.Generallyspeaking,themajorfunctionoflanguageistocommunicate.Linguistsusuallytalkaboutthefunctionsoflanguageinanabstractsense,thatistosay,notintermsofusinglanguagetochat,tothink,tobuyandsell,toreadandwrite,togreetandmakecontenttopeople,toshowfeelings,etc.Theysummarizethesepracticalfunctionsandattemptsomebroadclassificationsofthebasicfunctionsoflanguage.InHalliday’searlyworks,heproposedsevencategoriesoflanguagefunctionsbyobservingchildlanguagedevelopment,thatis,instrumental,regulatory,representational,interactional,personal,heuristicandimaginative.AsforJakobson,inthefamousarticle,linguisticsandpoetics(1960),hedefinedthesixprimaryfactorsofanyspeechevent,namely:speaker,addressee,context,message,code,contact.Andhealsoestablishedawell-knownframeworkoflanguagefunctionsbasedonthesixkeyelementsofcommunication,namely:referential,poetic,emotive,conative,phaticandmetalingualfunction.Certainly,therearealsootherclassificationsemploydifferentcategoriesandusedifferentterms,butallsharealotincommonaboutthebasicfunctionsoflanguage.There,IwillsingleJakobson’stheoryonfunctionsoflanguageouttoshowsomeideasaboutthesixelements.Inordertomakemyselfcouldbeunderstoodbetter,Iwilltakeonefamousadvertisementasanexampletodevelopmydescription.Theadvertisementis:ifyoudrink,thenyoudrive,youareabloodyidiot.Contents1.ReferentialfunctionWhenwespeakofthereferentialusesoflanguagewearetalkingabouthowweusesignstorefertocertainitems,inotherwords,weareusingthereferentialfunctionoflanguagetoconveymessageandinformation.Belowisanexplanationof,first,whatasignis,second,howmeaningsareaccomplishedthroughitsusage.Asignisthelinkorrelationshipbetweenasignifiedandthesignifier.Thesignifiedissomeentityorconceptintheworld.Thesignifierrepresentsthesignified.Anexamplewouldbe:Signified:theconceptbloodyidiotSignifier:thewordbloodyidiotTherelationshipbetweenthetwogivesthesignmeaning.Thisrelationshipcanbefurtherexplainedbyconsideringwhatwemeanbymeaning.Inpragmatics,therearetwodifferenttypesofmeaningtoconsider:semantico-referentialmeaningandindexicalmeaning.Semantico-referentialmeaningreferstotheaspectofmeaning,whichdescribeseventsintheworldthatareindependentofthecircumstancetheyareutteredin.Anexamplewouldbepropositionssuchas:thenyoudrive.Inthiscase,thepropositionisdescribingthatyoudrive.Themeaningofthispropositiondoesnotrelyonwhetherornotyouaredrivingatthetimeofitsutterance.Maybeyouaredrivingatanytimeandthemeaningofthepropositionwouldremainthesame.Themeaningissimplydescribingsomethingthatisthecaseintheworld.Incontrast,theproposition,youaredrivingrightnow,describeseventsthatarehappeningatthetimethepropositionisuttered.Indexicalmeaning,ontheotherhand,isdependentonthecontextoftheutteranceandhasrulesofuse.Byrulesofuse,itismeantthatindexicalcantellyouwhentheyareused,butnotwhattheyactuallymean.Example:youWhomyoureferstodependsonthecontextandthepersonutteringit.Asmentioned,thesemeaningsarebroughtaboutthroughtherelationshipbetweenthesignifiedandthesignifier.ThereisanotherimportantthingIneedtomentionthatreferentialfunctioncorrespondstosuchcommunicationelementascontext.Suchas“thenyoudrive”,wecan’tunderstandthemeaningofthissentencewithoutparticularcontext.Thenifsomeonesays:“Ithink---”,maybethespeakerwantstoaskotherstoclosethedoor,toopenthewindow,toputonmoreclothes,tobuysomefood,ortocomplainabouttheweatherandsoon.Oneword,allofthesedependoncontext.Andatthesametime,signsarealsoinfluencedbycontext.Referentialwordsreflecttherelationshipbetweenlanguageandcontext,whichisthekeytounderstandandconveymassage.Fortheaspectofcontext,referentialwordsarespecificcontentsandbasedoncontext.Theserelationshipsenableustousesignstoconveywhatwewanttosay.Forexample,ifyouwanttodescribeapersontoyourfriend,thenyoumayneedtotellthecharacteristicsoftheperson.Youwouldsay:“Shehasbrownhairandblueeyes.”Thenpeoplecangetyourinformationthatyouhaveafriendwhohasbrownhairandblueeyes.Let’sgobacktotheadvertisement:“ifyoudrink,thenyoudrive,youareabloodyidiot.”Thissentencecontainstwokeypoints:referentialsignsandcontext.Withthesetwoaspects,wecangettheinformationthatdriveafterdrankmayleadtobadresult.Thisisthereferentialfunctionplayedbythissentence.2.PoeticfunctionThePoeticFunctionfocusesonthemessageforitsownsakeandistheoperativefunctioninpoetryaswellasslogans.Generallyspeaking,thepoeticfunctionoflanguageisconveyedbyusingpoeticlanguage.Atthesametime,therearemanyformsofpoeticlanguage,suchasmetaphorandsimile,parallelandexaggeration,contrastlanguageandirony,melonymyandexaggeration,punandotherfigureofspeech,andevenplayingonwords.AndinEnglishpoemsordramas,thoseformssuchasalliteration,cesuraandkenningarefrequentlyusedtopolishliteraryworks.Thedifferencebetweenthepoeticlanguageandtheordinaryliesinthewaythesewritingskillsgetsextended,elaborated,questioned,orcomposed.Jakobsonhasclaimedthatpoeticusesoflanguagearethematicallyorganizedisneitherne